Relativistic calculations on the ground and excited states of AgH and AuH in cylindrical harmonic confinement

The relativistic ground and low-lying excited state potential energy curves of AgH and AuH in the presence of a cylindrical harmonic confining potential were calculated using the multi-state multi-reference perturbation theory with the spin-free no-pair Hamiltonian obtained via the third-order Douglas–Kroll transformation, incorporated with the full two-electron Breit–Pauli spin–orbit operator. The spectroscopic parameters were obtained for both the scalar- and quasi-relativistic potentials. The spin–orbit coupling constants were calculated for several strengths of the confining potential, and the effects of the applied potential on the coupling constants were analyzed using configuration interaction. This paper is dedicated to Serafín Fraga—colleague, mentor, and friend.     

Drag on two nonuniformly structured flocs moving along the axis of a cylindrical tube

The boundary effect on the drag on two identical, nonuniformly structured flocs moving along the axis of a cylindrical tube filled with a Newtonian fluid is investigated at a small to medium larger Reynolds number. A two-layer model is adopted to simulate various possible structures of a floc, and the flow field inside is described by Darcy–Brinkman model. The results of numerical simulation reveal that a convective flow is present in the rear region of a floc when Reynolds number is on the order of 40. The presence of the tube wall and/or the porous structure of a floc has the effect of reducing that convective flow. For a fixed level of the volume-average permeability of a floc, the influence of the tube wall on the drag depends upon floc structure; the influence on a nonuniformly structured floc is more significant than that on a uniformly structured floc. The more nonuniform the floc structure, the more appreciable the deviation of the drag coefficient–Reynolds number curve from a Stokes’-law-like relation becomes. The smaller the volume-average permeability of a floc and/or the smaller the separation distance between the two flocs, the greater is the deviation, but the presence of the tube wall has the effect of reducing that deviation.     

Electrochemical monitoring of indigo preparation using Maya’s ancient procedures

The preparation of indigo from Indigofera suffruticosa following the procedures attributed to ancient Mayas was electrochemically monitored using the voltammetry-of-microparticles approach. The mechanism formation of indigotin and indirubin from its precursors, indican and isatan, is discussed. Comparison of voltammetric profiles for differently prepared and commercial indigos and genuine Maya Blue samples suggests that the preparation procedure of indigo changed during the Late Classical Maya period. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Reduction of 1,4-dichlorobut-2-yne by titanocene to a 1,2,3-butatriene. Formation of a 1-titanacyclopent-3-yne and a 2,5-dititanabicyclo[2.2.0]hex-1(4)-ene

The 2,5-dititanabicyclo[2.2.0]hex-1(4)-ene (bis-titanocene-mu-(Z)-1,2,3-butatriene complex)3 is formed starting from [Cp2Ti(eta2-Me3SiC2SiMe3)] by in situ generated titanocene and 1,4-dichlorobut-2-yne via the 1-titanacyclobut-3-yne (2).     

Elemental analysis of Korean women’s blood serums using instrumental neutron activation analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to assess the concentration of the inorganic trace elements in Korean women’s blood serums. It was found that a high concentration of Na and Cl incurs an analytical interference, but the 12 elements such as Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, K, Na, Rb, Se and Zn could be determined under the condition of an interference minimization. Serum samples collected from 63 women were analyzed and the concentration level and range of the elements were evaluated. NIST SRMs were analyzed simultaneously for quality control. The average values of the Na and Cl determined in the serum samples were 3,365 and 3,533 mg/l, Ca was 96.4 mg/l and K was 191 mg/l. Besides, Br, Se and Zn have a concentration level of 6.46, 0.13 and 0.98 mg/l, respectively. It was found that there is no significant difference between the present values and the reported values.     

Characterisation of poly(neutral red) modified carbon film electrodes; application as a redox mediator for biosensors

The polymer redox mediator, poly(neutral red) (PNR), has been synthesised and characterised electrochemically to investigate the best electropolymerisation and mediation conditions for application in enzyme biosensors and to clarify the mechanism of action. Neutral red was electropolymerised by potential cycling on carbon film electrode substrates by allowing the monomer to be oxidised during the full 20 cycles of polymerisation or reducing the positive limit of the potential window after the first 2 cycles to impede monomer oxidation with a view to obtaining longer polymer chains and a lesser degree of branching. Comparison was made with glassy carbon substrates. The PNR films on carbon film electrodes were characterised using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, as well as in glucose biosensors prepared with PNR. Glucose oxidase enzyme was immobilised by encapsulation in silica sol-gel and compared with that obtained by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The biosensors were evaluated by chronoamperometry in 0.1 M phosphate buffer saline solution, pH 7.0, and showed evidence of electron transfer between the enzyme cofactor flavin adenine dinucleotide and PNR dissolved in the enzyme layer competing with PNR-mediated electrochemical degradation of H₂O₂ formed during the enzymatic process. This paper is dedicated to Professor Dr. Algirdas Vaskelis on the occasion of his 70th birthday.     

Infrared absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance studies of vinyl radical in noble-gas matrices

Vinyl radicals produced by annealing-induced reaction of mobilized hydrogen atoms with acetylene molecules in solid noble-gas matrices (Ar, Kr, and Xe) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. The hydrogen atoms were generated from acetylene by UV photolysis or fast electron irradiation. Two vibrational modes of the vinyl radical (nu7 and nu5) were assigned in IR absorption studies. The assignment is based on data for various isotopic substitutions (D and 13C) and confirmed by comparison with the EPR measurements and density-functional theory calculations. The data on the nu7 mode is in agreement with previous experimental and theoretical results whereas the nu5 frequency agrees well with the computational data but conflicts with the gas-phase IR emission results.     

SPECTROCSOPIC STUDIES OF PURINES—III. PROPERTIES OF PURINES SUBSTITUTED AT THE SIXTH AND NINTH POSITIONS*

Abstract— We have investigated the effects of solvent and pH on the absorption and emission propertied of various 6- and 9-substituted purines as a means of examining the nature of the directed not only at deteriming the relative energies of (π,π*) and (π,π*) states, but in particular, at examining the nature and energies of the two lowest-lying (π,π*) states. For examplem, the attachment of a methyl or ribosyl group to the N9 of purine does not change the relative energies of the lowest-lying (π,π*) and (π,π*) states; thus, the latter is the singlet of lowest energy. However, the lowest singles in derivatives formed by substitution at C6 are(π,π*) states—i.e. there is no long-wavelength tail in the absorption spectra and florescence is comparable in intensity to phosphorescence. Further the absence of emission from neutaral adenine at room temperature is due to temperature quenching. Both lowest (π–π*) transtions. are contained under a common envelope and cannot be resolved in the absorption spectra. The shoulder observed in some of these compounds on the long-wavelength slope of absorption envelope is vibrational in nature. Consideration of the effects of solvents on absorption and the analysis of luminescence spectra make it possible to locate the relative position of these (π–π*) transitions within the common envelope. In compounds with an -H on N9 and a free (aza) N1 (e.g. adenine, anionic hupoxanthine) the weaker, solvent-sensitive (W) band has a higher energy then the more intense, solvent-insensitive (S) band. When N1 is protonated, (e.g., in hypoxanthine or cationic adenine) and/or when methyl or ribosyl is substituted at N9, the order of these bands is inverted due ot a red shift of the W band. This shift is most apparent in the 9-substituted hypoxanthines, where in non-polar solvents the W band can be readily resolved in the absoption spectra. This inversion results in a red shift of both fluorescence and phophorescence and an increase of the P/F ratio. When chlorine or iodine is attached at C6 only phosphorescence having a very short lifetime appears due to heavy atom enhancement of single—triplet transitions.     

Carbon-carbon and carbon-nitrogen coupling reactions catalyzed by palladium nanoparticles derived from a palladium substituted Keggin-type polyoxometalate

Palladium 15-20 nm particles stabilized by a Keggin-type polyoxometalate were prepared by reduction of K(5)PPdW(11)O(39) with H(2). The nanoparticles were shown to be effective catalysts for Suzuki-, Heck-, and Stille-type carbon-carbon coupling and carbon-nitrogen coupling reactions of bromoarenes in aqueous media. Chloroarenes were also reactive in reaction media without solvent. [reaction: see text]     

Technological quality determination of pharmaceutical disintegrant by DSC cooling and DSC photovisual

A number of disintegrants are available on the market. They improve tablets’ disintegration. The objective of this work is the comparison of the technological quality parameters of disintegrants using different analytical techniques. Three batches of disintegrants and their binary mixtures (water:disintegrants) were investigated. Cooling experiments were used from –30 up to 200°C. The data obtained showed calorimetric differences between the samples. In the binary mixtures water showed different crystallization behaviour from the one found in the literature. According to the results DSC technique helped the quality control of different disintegrants.